Pesticide raw material imports: Authorities yet to implement new SRO

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a new statutory regulatory order (SRO) this year to ease imports of raw materials for pesticide manufacturing, but the authorities concerned have yet to implement it, forcing businesses to follow the previous rules and causing delays, according to the Bangladesh Agrochemical Manufacturers Association (BAMA).

Bangladesh spends thousands of crores of taka on imported pesticides every year. The government aims to reduce the import bill by supporting local manufacturers, the association said.

Following a directive from the Finance Ministry, the NBR issued the new SRO on 8 June. However, the Agriculture Ministry and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) have yet to implement it, BAMA alleged.

Under the previous SRO, manufacturers must obtain a separate no-objection certificate (NOC) from the ministry for each raw material in every consignment arriving at Chattogram port.

Companies first apply to the DAE, which forwards the application to the ministry for approval. It then returns to the department, which forms an investigation committee to inspect the factory, sometimes more than once.

The new SRO, however, removes the requirement to provide details of the supplier or the date of purchase. Importers need only submit a single certificate that can be used for repeated clearances, eliminating the need for a fresh NOC for every consignment.

KSM Mostafizur Rahman, president of BAMA, told the Daily Sun that the inspections were intended to verify whether a company was a genuine manufacturer, something the authorities already knew as they had issued the companies' licences.

“If government officials want to sit in our factories all 365 days of the year in the name of inspection, we have no objection. But requiring an NOC every time goods are cleared, and having them visit the factory and submit a report each time, cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.

He said the finance minister had directed the authorities to scrap the requirement for an NOC for each consignment, but the instruction was yet to be followed.

BAMA has repeatedly written to the Agriculture Ministry, which advised the association to take up the matter with the DAE, he said.

“We have submitted application after application, but there has been no resolution,” Mostafizur said.

Dr Enayet-E-Rabbi, director of the DAE's Plant Protection Wing, said the department normally acted on instructions from the ministry.

“We have not yet received any instruction from the Agriculture Ministry to grant clearance under the new SRO, so we are continuing to work under the previous one. As soon as we receive instructions, we will follow the new SRO,” he said.

When contacted, an additional secretary at the Agriculture ministry declined to comment.